There seems to be a lot of baby Christians that are content with staying a baby Christian. I’m sure there are various reasons why. One reason, might be the church that they attend doesn’t teach anything but salvation, which is good. But we need to learn more about what the Bible is all about. Another reason might be, they don’t know where to start to learn about Jesus.
Some even wonder which Bible do they use. Personally I believe it’s OK to read any Holy Bible. As long as you are seeking God, He will reveal himself to you. He promised.
(Jeremiah 29:13-14 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord,…)
Now, keeping the context this is speaking to the Jewish people in exile in Babylon. But it is also a promise to all his people that when they seek Him, they will find Him. That includes all of us that want to know Him and seek after Him.
Keeping this in mind, I think a good place to start to learn about Jesus, Is in the book of Hebrews. I’ve included here three different translations of Hebrew 6:1-3. As you read through them, you will find they all say the same thing. The King James Version the New International Version and the English Standard Version. They may use a couple of different words, but still have the same meaning.
Hebrews 6:1-3 KJV
1. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2. Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3. And this will we do, if God permit.
Hebrews 6:1-3 ESV
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2. and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3.And this we will do if God permits.
Hebrews 6:1-3 NIV
1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2. instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3. And God permitting, we will do so.
The first thing I want is to see here is in Verse 1, the (KJV) “principles of the doctrine”, (ESV) “elementary doctrine”, and again (NIV) “elementary teachings” about Jesus. These all really mean the same thing and that is the very basic things that Christians should know about being a Christian. The things that we should know about building our foundation as a Christian. If we have this foundation, it will be difficult for someone to try and deceive us. There are six items listed. We will go through each one individually to help us lay a firm foundation about our faith in Jesus, the Christ, the savior of the world.
These are the six doctrines.
#1 repentance from dead works
#2 faith toward God
#3 doctrine of baptisms (or washings, cleansing rites)
#4 laying on of hands
#5 resurrection of the dead
#6 eternal judgment.
We will explore all six doctrines in six different essays, all under the heading of Basics to Christian Understanding.
After exploring these 6 doctrines, we should have a firm foundation to build our Christian life on and as verse three says “ And this will we do, if God permit”.
MARANATHA